There is a prior patent application in which the stated objective is the definition of the means of surveillance using digital video cameras. In this case, the system is linked to a wireless, land line or Internet terminal using a radio link in lieu of hard wired connections. This application introduces the concept of a local alarm causing a local controller to start a camera and simultaneously initiate a wireless connection to a user. In this preceding case, the camera is inactive unless either an alarm or a call from a remote user occurs. This prior proposed system allows only stepped video frames or compressed video files to be sent. Streaming video is not contemplated because of lack of bandwidth in existing wireless facilities.